Sunday, June 17, 2012

One has to see such a place as Pompeii in person to appreciate what actually
happened here. On entering the main gate, which was from the direction of
the sea, you come up to the forum, which today is all cleaned up and looks
fairly benign. Architecturally, it must have been a very impressive
classical Roman city. It was in fact a
Roman resort town for the wealthy elite. When you study drawings and reconstructions
of what the buildings that made up this town once were it becomes even more
impressive.

However, as you proceed out toward the outskirts of the town
to the east or the south you begin to run into the un-excavated areas of Pompeii. Here you will see how deep the entire town
was buried and the destruction wrought by the rain of volcanic pumice and lava
stones. Imagine the fear and panic of
those simple people who had no idea what a volcanic eruption with its pyroclastic
flows of hot sulphur dioxide could do to them.
Inside the bath house just off of the forum they have several of the
castings that were taken when the early archeologist found the hollows in the
ash deposits formed when human bodies were buried after succumbing to the
poison gas and ash fall.

Vesuvius, always just over your shoulder, is beautiful but
menacing when one thinks that it could happen again at any time.

Many of the homes we visited, The House of the Faun,
The House of the Vettii
and The
Villa of the Mysteries are all remarkably well preserved and I was
impressed by the style in which these people lived. The spatial sequence of the
homes is what impressed me. In most
cases they are quite similar. One can
look through the house from the front entry and see the entire sequence. The entry
is a low dark narrow defensible space. Then the two story atrium with its great
height, central pool (or impluvium) and skylight. It is often surround on the second floor by a
balcony which enabled the residents of this floor to walk around and look down
into the atrium. The stairway was often hidden which made the second floor even
more remote and mysterious. When it rained the rainwater would funnel from the
roofs on four sides of the skylight down into the space and cascade into the
impluvium. Opposite the entry and across
the atrium is the tablinum where business was transacted with the master of the
house. Beyond the tablinum was the open
air garden or peristyle, surrounded by a colonnade which supported the roofs of
the porticos. One could walk around the
peristyle under these porticos protected from the rain or the hot Italian
sun. Often times, on the far side of the
peristyle would be located the triclinium or dining room. People would lie on inclined benches around a
central open area and be served food from slaves bearing trays or a table would
be set up in this space. The walls in
all of these spaces were decorated with frescoes depicting life in this part of
the world intermixed with scenes from mythology. The entire house was enclosed by stone walls
coated with cement stucco and therefore protected from whatever might be
occurring in the ancient streets of Pompeii.

For further information view these twenty-four great lectures by Prof. Diana Kleiner at Yale:

Saturday, June 9, 2012

One approaches the site
from the modern town of Herculaneum
sixty feet above the ancient town. As you walk down the path toward the
sea you begin to realize that the site of the ancient Herculaneum is completely underground except
for this small excavated section of the town. At the end of the ramp you
turn onto a gangway that leads to an ancient street that begins at what was
once the edge of the Mediterranean. As you can see many of the buildings are in a
state of excellent preservation. Food service
shops still have their counter tops built out of chunks of marble atop large storage
jars that used to contain nuts, grains, bread and soups. Much of the wooden elements of the buildings
are still in place. Some of the window
shutters, exterior beams, wine racks and furniture that are still in place were
charred by the hot gases of the pyroclastic flows from Mount
Vesuvius.

The interiors of typical roman homes here are well
preserved. The first main room of a house
we visited, the Atrium, is two stories high, complete with mosaic tile floors,
a pool in the center of the room, Frescos on the walls and sliding cedar entry
doors. The opening in the ceiling provided
the space with light and ventilation but it also allowed rainwater to pour in
and fill the pool, called an impluvium.
When the pool filled up it then over flowed into a cistern which
provided the family with a store of fresh water. Beyond this first main room is the Tablinum in
which the owner conducted business, which looks out to an enclosed garden
beyond know as a Peristyle. These
Peristyles were usually surrounded by columns supporting porch roofs or
Porticos. Traces of the gardens still
remain and of course there was typically a decorative pool and fountain.

Each of these homes was completely enclosed with solid stone
walls and tile roofs. Some of these
homes of the wealthy covered entire city blocks or Insula. This kept the
household save from intruders. Once the
front entry was sealed the house was safe from thieves or rioters in the
street. Yet the home still enjoyed
gardens, sunlight, flowing fountains, fresh air and blue skies. It was a clever design for urban living in an
unstable world.

At one point our tour guide showed us a bird bath supported
by three carved seahorses. He instructed
us to feel the detail in the mouth of one of the seahorses. The roman sculptors were so thorough that
they included the shapes of the inside of the roof of sea horses mouths.

If we ever get the chance we will go back and spend several
days in Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Food service counter in a fast food store.

Food storage jar in the corner of what was once a house.

Note the lead the pipes in front of the entry to this building!

A typical street in Herculanium.

View from the foyer through the Atrium. Note the uneven floor due to years of burial under 60 feet of volcanic deposits.

The Peristyle with it's pool

Detail of the threshold of the front door.

View of the Atrium with its Impluvium (pool), intact
Sliding cedar doors, bench and opening in the roof.

Again the Impluvium with its bench and an access opening to the cistern below.

Detail of the tile floor.

Another shot of the garden

Another garden with a mosaic alter that once held Sculptures.

Charred wooden shutters

Mosaics in the Roman bath house

Views of the Forum

Another view of the Forum where my wife leans on fountain with a trough.

A false colonnade and handrail

A Villa of a wealthy Roman over looking the sea, Note the bird bath supported with the three sea horses.

About Me

I have been a registered architect in Georgia since 1982. I am registered with the NCARB and therefore have reciprocity to practice in all fifty states. I have over forty years experience in commercial and residential design. I have been the principle of my own firm, Greg Mix & Associates Architects Inc. A.I.A. since 1987. My partner, Andy Jessup, and I just formed a new company, Southeast Studios Inc. During my career I have designed hundreds of commercial projects and custom homes for builders and owners. I have been a member of the A.I.A. for over twenty years. My experience includes multi-family, mixed use, offices buildings, banks, retail stores, shopping centers, custom homes and residential renovations.
At the websites GregMix.com and SoutheastStudiosInc.com you can see of photographs of projects I have completed.
770-806-8866; gregmix@comcast.net